Summary

• Villains Inc. sheds light on unsung henchmen with charm, comedy, and heart in an overlooked corner of the superhero world.
• Colin Mochrie brings Harold to life, explaining scripted comedy vs. improv, and praising the production team.
• Mochrie explains why henchmen deserve their story and praises co-stars for bringing comedy and heart to Villains Inc.

Villains Inc. tells the unsung story of the blue-collar workers of the superhero world...the henchmen! After their supervillain boss is killed in a fight against his nemesis, low-level henchmen Beatrix, Cain, and Harold need a job. Frustrated by the temporary jobs their union keeps setting them up with Beatrix devises a scheme to become a villain in her own right, but superheroes, established villains, and strict union rules make her quest for evil success more harrowing than she expected.

Villains Inc. is not the big-budget, bombastic superhero romp of Marvel or DC, but that fits the story that is being told. This independent movie from Team Squad Media shows the side of the superhero world that is so often overlooked and infuses these characters with charm, comedy, and heart. The crew of henchmen isn't the usual nameless, faceless muscle, but instead of the stars of the show as their hopes for the future in a world stacked against them inspire joy and empathy as a viewer as well.

Screen Rant interviewed Colin Mochrie about his new movie Villains Inc. He explained why the henchmen deserve to have their story told given how important they are within the superhero genre. Mochrie also broke down how he approaches scripted comedy differently from improvisation and praised the entire team behind the production.

Colin Mochrie Breaks Down His Henchman Character

Mochrie is most well known for his improvisational comedy skills, but with Villains Inc. he brings the character of Harold, a longtime loyal henchman to life. He sheds light on how he embodied Harlod's desire to follow and his unending need to find a leader. Mochrie explained not only how he became involved in the movie, but what he loves about collaborating with Jeremy Warner.

Colin Mochrie: The main reason is Jeremy [Warner] asked me to do it. So I thought, "Oh, yeah. Yeah." If people ask me to do their movies, just anyone out there, I will probably do them. There's a small window of things I won't do, but we can talk about it. I'd worked with Jeremy and Matt Moen, one of the writers, and Jason before, so I kind of knew their sense of humor. When they first talked about it, I knew immediately what the story was and what the script was and what fun it was, someone who is just so loyal, no matter what, to their cause, to their master. Although, that can change once the master is killed. He can easily move his loyalties elsewhere.

So that was a lot of fun, and I love to get the chance to get a little menacing at times because when I'm doing mainstream Hollywood stuff, which isn't a lot, I tend to be more kindly, as I am in real life, apparently. So it is nice to stretch and get to do something different. And the cast was great, and Jeremy is a wonderful director in that he lets you kind of play around at times. So it was a really fun experience.

What I love about [Jeremy] is he'll go, "Oh, hey, can you do something like that scene in Touch of Evil where... And then just do some, where the cat licked up the milk, but in the way we're..." I said, "No, Jeremy. I don't know what you're talking about. Just tell me to go somewhere." His film vocabulary, is amazing and he is a nerd of giant proportions. He knows all the relatives of Bilbo to God knows what. So he has that. He has this clear vision of what he wants. He goes, "I want this to look like this scene from this movie, but through my filter." It's so nice to work with someone who has such a clear vision of what they want to do and what they want you to do in that vision.

Mochrie also discussed the difference in his approach between improvisation in Whose Line Is It Anyway? versus the scripted comedy of Villains Inc. While scripted projects have a more clear-cut vision Mochrie revealed why improvisation is actually easier for him as a performer.

Colin Mochrie: When I'm doing improv, the beauty is I don't have to make sense. I'm reacting. Whereas writers, for some reason, when you're doing their script, they want you to get what their intention was across. So it's a different muscle to use. When I'm improvising, all I really have is the person I'm improvising with and whatever suggestion I get. And then it's just a free-for-all, just trying to figure out as we go along. And with a script, it's different. I'm working with other actors. As I said, there is an intention in every scene that the writer and director have come up with. So it's just a different muscle. I actually find it harder doing scripted than I do improv.

Colin Mochrie Explains Why The Henchmen Deserve To Have Their Story Told

Superheroes, anti-heroes, and supervillains have taken over both the big and small screen with major franchises like Marvel and DC as well as series taking a different perspective on what superheroes could mean for the world with The Boys and Invincible. Villains Inc. tells the story of the unsung workers in this world, the henchmen. Mochrie broke down why this is a story that deserves to be told especially with this genre being so prevalent today.

Colin Mochrie: Because it's a story that's never been told. It's always like the second, the Joker, whatever. Yeah, maybe they come up with a big plan, but it's the henchmen who get things done, and their story has really been underutilized, I think, throughout cinematic history. I can't think of another story that is focused on a henchman of some sort. Maybe Rasputin, but he's not even a henchman, really. He's Rasputin.

So it's good to see the human element of the superhero story. You have the bigger-than-life villains, the bigger-than-life heroes, and the henchmen are just working stiffs trying to get through either for a cause they believe in or it's because it's easy money, I guess. You don't really have to work, you just commit crimes. And usually the paydays are good. So it's nice to get, "Oh, no, they have their struggles."

Harold is one of the oldest henchmen in Villains Inc., which Mochrie pointed out means he must be one of the best. While it is often treated as a joke in the movie Mochrie points out that Harold must to some degree must be one of the MVPs of henchmen, "though no one recognized it. It was like, "Hey, okay, call me when you become 66 as a henchmen." Because chances are percentage-wise, it's not going to happen. I'm like a unicorn."

Colin Mochrie: Here's something that kind of bothered me throughout. They kept mentioning how old I was. My thing was, "Do you know how hard it is to survive as a henchman and get to this age?" You never see old henchmen because they're always killed. So it was fun thinking about how, because he doesn't have any power, he's not very strong. So how did he manage to survive this? I would say a lot of it is luck and just hiding behind the right body at the right time.

It's fun to think about how important the villains are to the heroes. Without the villains, the heroes just get the pose and look good. They need the villains for their mission statement, to do what they do, to be heroic. And so there's a real trying to find that in a relationship, how you can hate someone, but you also kind of need them to be there for you. I've been in many relationships like that, so it was easy for me to portray.

Colin Mochrie: I'd love to see the origin story because, obviously, he's not a leader in any way. He's the perfect follower. He will follow you to the ends of the earth and not really think about his own safety. And you want that in a cult member.

Colin Mochrie Praises His Villains Inc. Costars: "We Built Up A Really Nice Relationship"

Mochrie praised his co-stars Mallory Everton, Jason Gray, and Billy Mann who made up their team of henchmen with loftier goals. Harold (Mochrie), Beatrix (Everton), and Cain (Gray) have clearly been working together in this world for a long time, while Alex (Mann) joins the crew as the hilariously gullible yet brilliant intern. Their dynamic brings not only endless comedy but a surprising amount of heart and pathos to Villains Inc.

Colin Mochrie: I think a part of it is both Mallory and Jason are just extremely lovely people. So off camera, I think, because all of our scenes were together, we built up a really nice relationship. I mean, it was very touching when filming stopped and we had to say goodbye to everyone. It was like, I'd never actually had that on any kind of experience because most of the people I work with are d-cks. So it was nice to actually work with people who I loved.

We had a two-year gap. Remember when the world shut down for a little while? It was in the papers. So it was weird having that and then coming back and going, "Are we going to be able to pick up where we left off?" And I think the relationship immediately picked up. And it was lucky also for me being at this age, I'm not going to age much in two years. The pressure was on them to stay looking good. I mean, they did, but there was a lot of makeup involved.

[Billy Mann is] insane. I've never met a happier person. And you think, "Oh, yeah. He's insane, because no one can be that happy." Always positive. And I think near the beginning when we were first shooting, he had hurt himself skiing or something. So he was in incredible pain and yet still had that smile on his face and was going for it. He is a unique character.

One of the things I try, and you'll find this hard to believe, I'm not really known as an actor, but I try to get some sort of chemistry with the people I'm working with. I think I use what I use in improv when I'm acting, and that's really focusing on the person I'm working with. So it really seems like I'm invested in everything they say, that I care about them. Once you can fake that, gravy.

Villains Inc. also shows off some fun action as the henchmen are, of course, put in more and more dangerous situations either to help the villain they are supporting or to make a quick buck at a day job. Harold notably has a bigger stunt towards the end of the movie, although Mochrie didn't take on that one, he did a number of the more slapstick comedy-based stunts throughout the movie.

Colin Mochrie: There was a stunt double who shaved his head. And then we shut down production because of COVID. So I think we did end up using, although I may have just had a wig at that point. I feel like I was doing my own stunts. He may have done a fly through the air at one point, but in the bowling alley, I think I was doing most of my stuff because I like to do my own stunts if it involves walking or something, not things where I'm jumping and falling. I think the scene where Mallory just punches me consistently in the face, that was fun. That was all me.

Given the delay in filming due to COVID, Mochire was surprised by how smoothly the production ran even after it was shut down. He praised the set and explained why, "every day was like a treat and it was just nonstop fun."

Colin Mochrie: Just how smoothly it went, considering there was a pandemic and everything. But it was a very calm set. It was a very fun set. There was never a point where there was a lot of tension. And there were some big scenes. That scene in the bowling alley, it's just nonstop action. It's one of those, it involves stuntmen and actors and all this setting and resetting.

Those are the days where tension can build. You've been on a set for 12 hours. Everyone's getting a little tired. Sometimes the stuntman miss. It was good to know, there was never a point during filming where I thought, "Oh God, when's this going to be over?" Every day was like a treat and it was just nonstop fun.

About Villains Inc.

After the death of their supervillain boss, low-level henchpeople Beatrix (Mallory Everton), Cain (Jason Gray), and Harold (Colin Mochrie) are once again left jobless, penniless, and squatting in an abandoned grocery store. Unwilling to accept their underlying cycle of poverty any longer, Beatrix devises a plan for them to strike out on their own and take over the world by any means necessary. But superheroes, competing baddies, and harsh union rules make the quest for evil success a treacherous journey.

Villains Inc. hits theaters on April 19.